Olympics 2012 Rant

I have been spending the last three days doing something that is not characteristic of my personality, being glued to the television. Don't get me wrong, I have my favorite television shows and sometimes enjoy the white noise of television in the background, but for the last few days, I have spent maybe 70% of the day with my eyes staring directly at the television, enjoying varieties of Olympic sports.

I have so many good memories of watching the Olympics with my family. I remember watching Mariel Zagunis's scream when she won the gold medal in fencing. I remember Michael Phelps prior to his 8 gold-medal fame. I idiolized Carly Patterson. The memories are my favorite part of the Olympics. The sports themselves are endearing, but the history is what I walk away with. And if you didn't get it already, I am 100% Team USA. (:

(photograph taken from guardian.co.uk)

Sadly, this year I will be unable to sit in the living room with my family during the Women's Gymnastics All-Around Final, much less watch it all. This is the reason behind the 70%. I want to spend all the time I can nurturing this unspoken tradition.

With those nostalgic thoughts aside, I wanted to share a few of my thoughts on the Olympics so far. Keep in mind, I am not an experienced sports writer, so my normal language will have to suffice.

NOTD: Butter London "Trout Pout"

Today's nail of the day is Butter London's "Trout Pout," a creamy salmon pink. I thought twice about getting this color like I always do about polishes that are more than $10, but knew I had to add this color to my collection.

China Glaze "Shocking Pink"

Today's nail-of-the-day post should be a nail-of-the-week post since I have resisted removing this polish for as long I could. China Glaze's "Shocking Pink" was my favorite color to wear on my toes last summer. And though it was my most worn color on my toes, I rarely wore it on my fingers. I found the neon a bit too bright for my fingers at the time. Now, however, I LOVE having this neon shade on my fingers

(photographed: China Glaze "Shocking Pink")

"Shocking Pink" is an appropriate name. It is a neon bright, hot pink color. Like most neons, you will never be able to capture how truly bright it is on camera. But I'm sure you get the idea.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower: A Book Review

There are NO SPOILERS in this review. Enjoy. (:

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

For the longest time, I have been resisting to read Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflower. And no offense to Mr. Chbosky or any fans of his book, but once I heard it was a coming-of-age novel that involved parties, drugs, and hormonal teenagers, I immediately wrote it off as "not for me."

However, I recently read some blurbs about it, specifically one from USA Today that claims it's "in the tradition of The Catcher in the Rye," and I was immediately sold. (The Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books. You can read about the rest of my favorites books here.) So, I decided to finally give it a try. It seemed like a reasonably small book, so if for whatever reason I did end up hating it (which I highly doubted because I rarely hate books), relatively little time would have been wasted.

(photographed: Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflower)

For those of you living in a cave here is the back cover description:

"It is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's lettters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where all you need is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Through Charlie, Chbosky has created a deeply affecting novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up."

Butter London "Teddy Girl"

Today's nail of the day is Butter London's "Teddy Girl," a perfect creamy baby pink. "Teddy Girl" reminded me a lot of Essie's "Fiji," which I have a full review of right here. "Teddy Girl," however, has more pink to it, whereas "Fiji" can look more chalky.

(photographed: Butter London "Teddy Girl")

Stephanie Writes A Story

I will do just about anything to avoid work sometimes. For instance, I have been in the process of writing a new short story and in the last hour I've done the dishes, reorganized the fridge in what I convinced myself to be a more efficient method, made myself some tea, had a snack while watching an episode of Avatar, and now, finally, this.

And in doing all of those tasks, which any other day would constitute as productive, I keep hearing Ron Carlson in the back of my head. Ron Carlson, amongst other things, is the author of the book Ron Carlson Writes A Story. Appropriate title, isn't it? In this book, Carlson details how, in one sitting, he completed a rough draft of a story.

(photographed: tunnel)

(Because I always need a picture, there's a picture of a tunnel. Draw whatever tortured metaphor out of the cliche "light at the end of the tunnel" you need, but it was a purely random photo choice to go with a random post.)

Essie "Cute As A Button" & Zoya "Chloe"

Today's nail of the day was inspired by Deborah Lippmann's "Sweet Dreams," a fuchsia base with flake-y glitters. When I looked up photos of "Sweet Dreams," the glitters in it reminded me of Zoya's "Chloe." Since I already own "Chloe," all I needed was a color to be the fuchsia base. Sadly, when it comes to pinks, my collection is rather small. So instead, I had to substitute the fuchsia with Essie's "Cute As A Button." I actually adore this combination. And instead of spending $18 on a new Deborah Lippmann polish, I just used colors I already had sitting around.

(photographed [left to right]: Essie "Cute As A Button," Zoya "Chloe")

Zoya "Arizona"

Today's nail post is for Zoya "Arizona," a creamy bright orange-yellow color that is definitely heavier on the orange. I chose to wear "Arizona" since I was going to a Giant's game with a friend.  It is very appropriate for this summer seeing as how orange/tangerine colors have become increasingly popular.

(photographed: Zoya "Arizona")

Fahrenheit 451: A Book Review

There will be NO spoilers in this review.

I recently reread Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 for the first time since I first about eight years ago. It's almost depressing that it took the passing of Bradbury combined with nerdfighter duties for me to pick up this book again in so many years, but I'm very glad I did. 

Sometimes I attempt to discourage myself from rereading books due to my never-ending list of unread books to tackle. However, I soon realize that that effort is not only futile, but foolish. I truly love rereading favorite books and re-exciting good emotions, or, in the case of Fahrenheit 451, igniting new emotions.

(photographed: Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" on my Kindle)

Here's the book description (I cut out the last part of it because I felt it revealed far too much):

"Ray Bradbury's internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 is a masterwork of twentieth-century literature set in a bleak, dystopian future.

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.

Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family." But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people don't live in fear, and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television."

Battle of the "Penny" Polishes [Part 1]

[EDIT (09/24/2012): You can find more photos and Part 2 of this Battle here]

Today's nail polish battle began as a simple nail post for Revlon's "Copper Penny." However, when I saw Essie's "Penny Talk" at Walmart, I knew I had to pick it up and do a comparison post with "Copper Penny." Both nail polish names hint that they desire to replicate the copper color of a penny, so I thought it would be fun to compare.

(photographed [left to right]: Revlon "Copper Penny," Essie "Penny Talk")

Butter London "Slapper"

Today's notd is Butter London's "Slapper." "Slapper" is a beautiful, bright teal/turquoise color. I had been staring at "Slapper" for quite a while, and after weeks and weeks of returning to the same Butter London section in Ulta, I finally decided to just snatch it up. And I'm very pleased I finally did!

(photographed: Butter London "Slapper")

Deborah Lippmann "Glamorous Life"

Today's notd, Deborah Lippmann's "Glamorous Life," is a favorite for me. "Glamorous Life" is a perfect rose gold. It looks exactly like a liquified rose gold watch.

(photographed: Deborah Lippmann "Glamorous Life")

Essie "Fiji"

Today's notd is Essie's "Fiji," a cool baby pink. Though I am a nail polish fanantic, I own the least amount of pinks and reds. Even though "Fiji" is slightly cooler than what I prefer for my skin tone, my hands feel elegant whenever I put this color on.

(photographed: Essie "Fiji")

Battle of the Yellow Polishes [Part 1]

Today's nail post will be a Battle of the Yellow Polishes. I wanted to start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoy yellow nails as well as the color yellow in general. I believe yellow is just one of the few colors that you can pick without standing out as obnoxious or childish, as blues and greens can sometimes be, but at the same time is not at all safe and boring like nudes and pinks can be. Yellow is just a happy color. (:

This particular post will be a compare/contrast post on two wearable yellows for the spring/summer, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure "Yellow Kitty" and Revlon Colorstay "Buttercup."

 (photographed [left to right]: Sally Hansen "Yellow Kitty," Revlon "Buttercup")